Cook, Ralph, 1942-1945
Biography
Dr. Ralph Cook was born 1881 in Ypsilanti Michigan to Alta and Alice Cook. In 1905 Cook married Haidee Esther Mundwiler (1883-1971). They eventually moved to Kalamazoo Michigan where Dr. Cook worked as a the Kalamazoo County Coroner from 1916-1958. In addition to being the county coroner, Dr. Cook was also the President of the Kalamazoo Academy of Medicine in 1940. During World War Two Dr. Cook successfully organized an in-house 24 hour physician call system for emergencies which rotated monthly between Bronson and Borgess Hospital, this was considered to be the first community wide medical preparedness plan in the country. Dr. Cook was also Kalamazoo’s First Public Health Officer and First Medical Superintendent of Fairmount Hospital. He died in Kalamazoo in 1959 at the age of 78.